In the wearing apparel field, a wide variety of clothing is designed so that the portion encircling the wearer's waist fits snugly. In articles such as jeans, skirts, trousers and the like, where the article of clothing reaches up to and terminates about the waist, the waist encircling portion is generally provided with means for drawing such portion from a loose to a close fit and securing same.
When reasonably close waist line fit is desired in a garment, difficulties arise due to body dimension variations, both from person to person in the general population, and for a given person temporary changes in their girth. In particular, during early term pregnancies, the girth has increased so that the wearing apparel does not readily fasten, but is insufficient to justify the expenditure oh maternity clothing. One often either sacrifices close fit or comfort.
Various adjustable features for waist lines have been previously devised. For instance, garments have been made with permanently joined waistbands of excess girth, which are gathered to smaller dimensions by elastic material encased within the waistband. Such "continuously" adjustable waistbands, however, are often deemed unsuitable due to their gathered appearance.
Previous efforts to deal with this have included making permanent modifications to the garment by adding gores or extra material and thus increasing the size of the garment in the waistband area.
Removable waistband adjusting means have left a gap in the fly opening of the garment often exposing the skin of the wearer and thus rending the expanded garment distasteful to the observer.
All of these adjusting means require additional elements to be incorporated into the garment at manufacture or alterations to the garment after manufacture, and in many instances the stylish appearance of a garment as to the area around the waistband is lost due to these additional elements and/or alterations.
For many wearers, a means for occasionally and temporarily adjusting a "styled to fit" garment in order to loosen the waistband is desired. Such a means, if adaptable to any conventional means for closing waistbands, would permit practically unlimited choice as to purchasing jeans, skirts, trousers and the like in a size providing the desired fit, which then may occasionally be adjusted to loosen the fit for comfort when required. It is further desired that such means require no permanent alteration to the garment itself so as to retain its normal stylish appearance when the need for waistband loosening passes.
For some wearers, a means for loosening the waistband of ready-to-wear clothing is necessary generally due to size problems. For such wearers, it is often desired that such a loosening means be relatively inexpensive and avoid costly alterations. Again, if such means be adaptable to any conventional means for closing waistbands, the choice in clothing selection becomes almost unlimited. Further if the means is detachable, one can avoid purchasing such separate means for each and every garment requiring same.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a means for extending the waistband of a garment with normal closure means. It is an object to provide such means which can be used as a temporary measure and requires no alteration of the garment itself. It is an object to provide such means which, in use, permits security of closing. These and other objects will become apparent from the description of the invention given below.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a simple and convenient means for adapting a lower body garment for use during the early stages of pregnancy and, thereafter, a method permitting the garment to be returned to its original form and appearance without alteration.